Research Fellow in Understanding Earth’s Energy Imbalance

Job Description:

Are you an ambitious researcher looking for your next challenge? Do you have an established background in atmospheric or climate science with an interest in physical climate change and the Earth’s energy budget?

The Earth’s Energy Imbalance (EEI) is a fundamental measure of ongoing anthropogenic climate change. Since the early 2000s, satellite observations have revealed a robust increase in the Earth’s heating rate, with an EEI trend of around 0.5 W m⁻² per decade. While some increase is expected from anthropogenic forcing such as increases in greenhouses gases, and the climate system’s response to it, the magnitude and variability of this trend remains difficult to understand and for climate models to reproduce. In this role you will participate in a new international climate model intercomparison project, CERESMIP, by performing targeted climate model simulations in order to compare simulated and satellited observed (CERES) energy fluxes and assess our understanding of the radiative forcing and climate feedback processes driving the observed EEI increase. You will run climate model experiments with HadGEM3-GC5c, compare forcing and feedback outputs against observed trends, and work closely with the Met Office Hadley Centre and other international colleagues / modelling centres. You will contribute to peer-reviewed publications documenting the results in time for consideration for IPCC AR7.

You will have, or be close to obtaining, a PhD in the field of Atmospheric or Climate Science, or a related discipline, and have experience of running global climate models on high performance computing platforms and analysing their output

Please note: If you are not a British or Irish citizen, from 1 January 2021 you will require permission to work in the UK. This will normally be in the form of a visa but, if you are an EEA/Swiss citizen and resident in the UK before 31 December 2020, this may be your passport or status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

Please note that this post may be suitable for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa route but first-time applicants might need to qualify for salary concessions. For more information please visit: www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

For research and academic posts, we will consider eligibility under the Global Talent visa. For more information please visit: https://www.gov.uk/global-talent

What we offer in return

• 26 days holiday plus approx.16 Bank Holidays/days that the University is closed by custom (including Christmas) – That’s 42 days a year!
• Generous pension scheme plus life assurance– the University contributes 14.5% of salary
• Health and Wellbeing: Discounted staff membership options at The Edge, our state-of-the-art Campus gym, with a pool, sauna, climbing wall, cycle circuit, and sports halls.
• Personal Development: Access to courses run by our Organisational Development & Professional Learning team.
• Access to on-site childcare, shopping discounts and travel schemes are also available.

And much more!

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact:

Dr. Timothy Andrews

Email:[email protected]

Closing Date: 26 Jun 2026

Section: Research

Salary: £41,064 to £48,822 p.a.